Compur shutter on Super Balda Matic I

[MFstooges]

This is Compur shutter from Super Balda Matic. The lens ring area was full of white crust that also goes to the rear of the shutter. The material isn't hard, it's almost like sticky powder. They also developed crystal form within the lens small gaps. Not sure what it is.
Everything is jammed except the focus. I wonder if anyone here is familiar with this kind of shutter.

I am trying to understand how this shutter works. The cocking action (12 o'clock position) is done when the tab at the start of yellow arrow rotate anti clock wise and meets with the horizontal tab at the start of red arrow and brings the tab all the way to 9 o'clock position. Another tab on the same part will also engage with the escapement lever.
Current problem : the tab at the start of the yellow arrow can only move up to the 3 o'clock position. Something is blocking it and I cannot figure out what.

Pivot shaft "P" is connected to shutter release button mechanism. When the shutter button is pressed the pivot shaft "P" rotates anti clockwise together with lever "A" but lever "B" stays in its position and nothing happens. If I push lever "B" manually the shutter will fire.

The escapement is on the right side, energized only by a tiny torsion spring on the bottom right gear.

The arrangement in green circle also confuses me. Should the left side part be nested inside the notch on lever "B"? I don't see logical reason to have that notch on lever "B" without function. But it also seems impossible that it can be dislodged accidentally or by an impact, especially since the lens and everything else are cosmetically pristine.

 

[albada]

That shutter is from a Kodak Retina automatic II or III. I have overhauled several of them.

That white stuff is a corrosion-like substance caused by storing the camera in a humid area. You will need to clean the shutter completely, as the aperture is probably stuck.

If the cocking tab does not rotate anticlockwise enough, there is a problem in the gearing somewhere between the rack by the camera's film-advance lever and the circular gear behind the shutter. One of those gears has slipped and is out of sync.
Lever A is for the B-speed. When the shutter-button is released, shaft P rotates clockwise, moving the lever under the blue arrow, letting the shutter close.
Lever B is pushed leftward by a protrusion on the rotating part at the 12:00 position. When you press the shutter release, the ring gear behind the shutter rotates, closing the aperture, and rotating the part at 12:00 clockwise. At the end of the rotation, lever B is pushed, firing the shutter.

I put an article on my website showing in detail how to disable the automatic mechanism in the automatic III. I explain the benefits of doing so. You might or might not want to do that, but the photos and explanations will help you with disassembly and reassembly. Here's the article:

Upgrading a Retina Automatic III

Good luck,
Mark

 

[Dan Fromm]

Have you looked at this: https://archive.org/details/compur-shutter-repair-manual?

 

[Dan Daniel]

The escapement is on the right side, energized only by a tiny torsion spring on the bottom right gear.

Just quickly- this sentence is not correct. The assembly at midnight, red/yellow arrows, has a spring underneath the top part. Which provides rotational force to the metal part underneath it. After cocking counterclockwise, this lower part will push on the main lever with 6 teeth at 1-2 o'clock and this is what drives the escapement. That little hair spring at 4 is to make encourage the gear to rotate in the right direction, I think.

 

[MFstooges]

That shutter is from a Kodak Retina automatic II or III. I have overhauled several of them.

That white stuff is a corrosion-like substance caused by storing the camera in a humid area. You will need to clean the shutter completely, as the aperture is probably stuck.

If the cocking tab does not rotate anticlockwise enough, there is a problem in the gearing somewhere between the rack by the camera's film-advance lever and the circular gear behind the shutter. One of those gears has slipped and is out of sync.
Lever A is for the B-speed. When the shutter-button is released, shaft P rotates clockwise, moving the lever under the blue arrow, letting the shutter close.
Lever B is pushed leftward by a protrusion on the rotating part at the 12:00 position. When you press the shutter release, the ring gear behind the shutter rotates, closing the aperture, and rotating the part at 12:00 clockwise. At the end of the rotation, lever B is pushed, firing the shutter.

I put an article on my website showing in detail how to disable the automatic mechanism in the automatic III. I explain the benefits of doing so. You might or might not want to do that, but the photos and explanations will help you with disassembly and reassembly. Here's the article:

Upgrading a Retina Automatic III

Good luck,
Mark

Thanks. Reading on your write up, it seems I messed up the speed set up since I did not record the small gear position. I didn't know that I can leave the screw on the gear's shaft when removing the front plate that holds the front lens element.

I also tried to separate the shutter housing from the front plate without success. I removed all three screws in green circles and also other screws on top of the metal posts. My guess is the plate is held in place by the rear matte black ring that has to be removed with spanner. I tried to remove it but it needs more force. Not sure if it is locked by the red material that looks like gasket but I stopped there.

 

[MFstooges]

Have you looked at this: https://archive.org/details/compur-shutter-repair-manual?

Thank you this is very valuable but I could not find the correct shutter there.

 

[MFstooges]

Just quickly- this sentence is not correct. The assembly at midnight, red/yellow arrows, has a spring underneath the top part. Which provides rotational force to the metal part underneath it. After cocking counterclockwise, this lower part will push on the main lever with 6 teeth at 1-2 o'clock and this is what drives the escapement. That little hair spring at 4 is to make encourage the gear to rotate in the right direction, I think.

I wrote : "Another tab on the same part will also engage with the escapement lever."
But the escapement is energized with that tiny torsion spring otherwise it can not spring back.